Michelle's chickpeas: What have we been up to?

I haven’t had much spare time recently to keep the blog updated, so I thought I would sit down and let you all know the types of things we have been up to lately.

The boys have been in school now for just over a month and the general consensus is that school is cool! It is such a relief that they both love it. I did have my reservations about sending Reuben as he is so young and his year is non compulsory anyway, but he loves it and is, for want of a better word, thriving! He loves being around so many people all day and after getting over the tiredness he is now the last one standing at home and still dancing round the house when everyone else is knackered! His lessons are a lot less like play than I would like them to be at his age, but he loves the way they are teaching letters and is now always pointing out letters everywhere we go and he seems to be having loads of fun, so that’s great.

Rowan’s class is a lot more formal, lot’s of handwriting practice and repeat after me stuff, but again he is loving it. He does tend to daydream a bit in class (you never would believe it, would you?!), but he is getting his work done, enjoying himself, making friends and (my favourite) coming out of school really animated and enthusiastic telling us what he did today.

It is so lovely to see them both full of enthusiasm for the things they are doing in school.

It’s a lovely school and both Tristan and I are very happy we chose this area and school. It’s very laid back and relaxed, they have lots of fun but also get the work done.

So what else are we doing,

Well Tris is working most of the time 5 days a week, but we are still in the wet season, so that means if it’s raining they don’t work, but if it’s mega bad and trees are down then they are called out to do emergency stuff. He is working today, but hasn’t for a few days as it’s been proper chucking it down!

I think he is enjoying it, they are still clearing up after the storms we had 5 weeks ago, he’s been working in the rainforest and all over the coast.

I am keeping myself busy. I am a dinner lady at the school tuck shop, it’s a lot different than an English dinner lady, but still making loads of rubbish food to feed the kids. Once I am settled in a bit more I may try to offer some revolutionary ideas to de junk the kitchen, but at the mo I am just trying to fit in and not be the pain in the arse hippy!

I am also volunteering in both boys classrooms, which is great. In Reuben’s room I help with whatever activity they are doing, it changes every week. In Rowan’s class I am helping with reading, which I love. I get to help a few of the children that are struggling with reading and I am really enjoying watching how much they come on each week. I am also trying to put into practice ideas I have been reading about when talking to the kids. It is so rewarding to see a child respond to positive remarks when maybe they haven’t been doing so well, it really motivates them and helps them to see they are doing well.

So other than school and work and the festival we haven’t been up to much recently. It has been pooey weather a lot of the time, so when we have a nice day on a weekend everyone is out and about. We have been out for bike rides, to the beach and parks.

We are all hoping now that this week is the last of the ‘big wet’ as everyone is fed up with it. It’s just so crazy a couple of months ago it was a drought and soooo hot, everyone was praying for rain. Now the dams are so full they are being released, the rivers are overflowing and the beaches are being pounded by mega high tides. So yes, we are over with the rain now and just want some sun back!

Actually the sun is shining at the mo and I can hear the kids playing at break time at school (which is great, as when it’s raining they have to have break time in their class rooms), but we have just had a massive downpour and I can guarantee that it will start to pour in about 30 minutes as I have to get on my bike to pick up the kids.

The boys are loving their bikes at the mo, the first question they ask when we say we are going somewhere is, “Can we ride?” If they can they will not go any other way, even to school in the pouring rain, although we live so close that it is quicker to ride bikes than drive, find somewhere to park and then walk into school, and you get just as wet as you have to park so far away. We have been called mad, but it makes sense to us, maybe because we are British!

Rowan has been a bit poorly lately, his poor immune system is taking a battering at school, he is not used to the whole school/nursery bug thing and it has knocked him about a bit. He got a cold within the first week and it has not shifted. We actually had quite a scare last week with him, he was looking and feeling really bad so he had the day of school and we went to the doctors. The GP thought he had meningitis! He didn’t and to cut a long story short he rested at home for the days, I gave him some homeopathy, he took himself off to bed and woke up 12 hours later feeling and looking much better. Very scary, but all over with very quickly. The GP has also said he is not asthmatic. He asked a few questions to which the answers were all no and he said if he even had very mild asthma at least one answer would be yes and also when we took him the other day (I thought he had had an asthma attack) the GP said his breathing was lovely no signs of a wheeze or any asthma at all, and he hasn’t used his puffer at all since moving here(except that night last week). So all good on that front.

Well I have written a lot more than I thought I would. That’s what happens when I am home on my own for most of the day, I get a bit carried away!!

Anyway here are some photos from over the last few weeks……………

The boys have been finding different effects on my phone camera! A very weird shot of Reuben

A lovely shot of Rowan

Rowan took this one. This ice cream van comes past our house every so often. We never have any cash when it does go past, but they are just so chuffed that it actually goes past that a photo will do.